Alex

No part knew the whole, the whole did not know all the parts, and none had any need to.

Side by side with a compelling desire to excel in the world as he found it was equal desire to behave in accordance with the world as he wished it to be. Shoulder to shoulder with desire for power, fame, and fortune was longing for solitude and contemplation. Hand in hand with the urge to excitement and action was the call to contemplatio

the first and primary function of the card was to identify buyer to seller and seller to buyer. [...] The seller would receive good funds in local currency and the buyer would be billed later in the currency of their country. Thus, the second primary function was as guarantor of the value data. Clearly, it warranted to both buyer and sell

The possibility of that which has never occurred cannot be determined by opinion -- only by an attempt.

we must get beyond numbers and the language of mathematics in order to understand, evaluate, and account for such intangibles as learning, intellectual capital, community, beliefs, and principles

there is little possibility of achieving constructive, sustained governance with existing concepts of organization. People everywhere are growing desperate for renewed sense of community.

I could think of no way to fully realize the concept by including merchants and cardholders as owner/members. The slightest hint in that direction raised a storm of opposition. We should have included them. Perhaps, with more time, tenacity, and ingenuity, we could have.

Many took the openness and liberty of Visa as applicable to them, but not in relation to those over whom they had authority.

At such times, it is no failure to fall short of realizing all that we might dream: The failure is to fall short of dreaming all that we might realize. We must try!